Truth

RORY

I stir awake, gasping for breath as I realize I’m alive. I’m alive.

I’m alive!

My eyes flutter open, landing on three anxious-looking wolves, the powerful Alpha more so than the others.

When his eyes connect with mine, everything melts away. He dashes to my side and searches my face for something—signs of ill health?

“You’re here, you’re alive,” he mutters frantically, smashing his lips against mine before pulling back to give me some air.

But I love the tingling feeling of his lips on mine—and the sparks that fly between us and dance like a never-ending party.

“What is going on? Tell me what’s happening, Aurora.”

“I…”

It’s time to come clean. I do know most of it now, at least the basis of it all, of everything that has happened. I know what I am now.

“I… It’s hard to explain. I… The first time we met, when I was kicked out of Red Moon, Nick and Victoria didn’t just try to kill me, they did.

“T-they killed me. T-they slit my th-throat,” I stammer, finding it hard to recall the memories with what happened to me and all the pain surrounding it.

“And I-I went into this place, a-and there… It was like limbo, or that’s what I call it. And there was this door and I-I was pushed through it. A-and then I was alive again.

“I didn’t understand. It was like a dream, but filled with so much pain. I couldn’t breathe.”

Tears start pouring down my face. I’m so tired, and I’m also tired of keeping all of this in, not sharing it with Everett. I just thought it was safer and easier for him, for us.

“And I-I woke up and I g-got up and I-I was in a pool of my own b-blood. It must’ve l-leaked out everywhere. And I-I didn’t have anywhere to go.

“A r-rogue protected m-me that n-night. I-I was so exhausted, I-I just collapsed.”

My eyes feel so heavy still. Having my life drained from me and given back again really takes it out of me—not to mention the fact that Nemesis almost killed me.

I feel myself start to drift off to sleep, but Lucius snaps me awake with his next question.

“What else?” he growls.

“Then you all found me,” I say dozily. “I was in the hospital, with Ophelia, when it happened again. But I didn’t actually die.

“Well, I did, but I cured her and then died for it, I think, like I did when Ace was shot in rogue territory. And then the car hit me and I died again. And I healed quickly when I woke up. I just faked my legs being broken.”

I watch Lucius’s eyes narrow at me, but Everett’s still listening. He doesn’t seem angry that I kept this from him, yet.

“My mom gave me a letter before I was exiled. It said that I had died and come back twice before. The first time was when she found me.

“She said that I was left out in rogue territory, killed. I found out who killed me. It... It was a goddess.”

As I’m saying it, I know it sounds unbelievable. It was unbelievable to me when I heard it. But I just have to get it out there, because it’s the truth.

“The third time I died, when Ace was dying, there was this woman. Her name is Achlys. She’s a goddess too. And she told me someone was after me because of my birth parents. This time, when I died, I saw her.

“Her name’s Nemesis, the goddess of revenge. She told me that her husband fell for my mom and that he killed Nemesis’s unborn child for my mom.

“So to get her revenge, she stole me and put me on Earth so she could kill me. But it wasn’t very easy.”

Lucius is just shaking his head at this point, quietly scoffing at anything I say whilst Ace looks at me skeptically. But Everett just listens, not forming any conclusions just yet.

“She told me Selene, the moon goddess, made the rogues subconsciously protect me anytime I’m in rogue territory because that’s unprotected grounds, apparently.

“Nemesis can get me there—and in limbo. And Selene paired me with an Alpha, too, because we’re soulmates and because it’s safest for me with an Alpha. Apparently, Selene is like my aunt.

“Which makes me a goddess too. And Nemesis cursed me, with clumsiness, so that I would die easier and she could get more chances to get to me in limbo.

“But Achlys gets in the way. But she was close this time. She got to me.” I still feel the burns she gave me through my body, and I swiftly peel back the cover to see handprints scalded onto my ankles.

“What the fuck is that?” Everett growls at the sign of me hurt.

“I think the damage she can do is permanent,” I mumble, gazing at the burn marks. “She grabbed my ankles. Her hands were like fire. They hurt so much.”

“That’s real, and new,” Lucius mutters, looking at my legs in shock. “But none of what you just said can be true. It’s stupid. You’re cursed with clumsiness?”

I just shrug and lie back in the bed.

“Leave us,” Everett demands in his Alpha tone, forcing Lucius and Ace to leave obediently.

He crawls into bed beside me and makes me face him so that I’m staring directly into his unreadable eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks in a soft voice.

“Until a few hours ago, I didn’t know most of that. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kept it from you. But I didn’t know if you’d keep me at first, and I was scared about what happened.

“And I still didn’t understand anything myself; I still don’t,” I explain.

We’re so close I can feel his breath on my face, and he can feel mine.

“That’s why you were so scared to see Alpha Nickolas and Luna Victoria again? Because they actually killed you and you don’t even have a scar?”

I nod slowly and he just stares at me. I yawn and my head falls closer to his.

“You’re sleepy, little one. I just want to hold you.”

“I want you to hold me. I was so scared to lose you.”

I roll into Everett’s arms and let his scent and his body engulf me. I rest my head on his chest, and the rest of my body lies sprawled out on his.

“I was scared I’d lost you. I promised to protect you, little one. You’re my mate and my Luna and my love. I fucking love you. Nothing can ever change that,” he whispers, stroking my arm. “Do your ankles hurt?”

“Not so much now. It just feels seared. They’re fine though. You don’t have to worry, Everett.”

“I do worry, Aurora. I’m even more worried. There’s some goddess bitch after you. I always knew you were a goddess; you definitely look like one,” he says playfully, making me giggle.

“So fucking beautiful. I love your little giggles. I want to hear more, but there’s always someone or something messing with our happiness.

“I just want to be with you. I don’t care if you’re clumsy, or as it turns out, cursed clumsy. You’re perfect to me.”

“Then you need your eyes checked,” I joke, laughing lightly and making him growl playfully too.

“You are perfect, little one. Absolutely perfect. You need to understand that,” he states firmly, sliding the sheets over me more to keep me warm.

When he notices me shivering, he grabs another blanket from the side of the bed and pulls it over us too.

“It’s cold in limbo,” I mutter.

“I want you to tell me more about all of it. You know that. I want to know everything, every detail. But you need to sleep right now, so we’ll just cuddle and you’ll nap and I’ll watch you and protect you.

“I can’t ever let you out of my sight again. I can’t lose you. Which is why I need to know everything.”

“I know. I’ll tell you everything, Everett,” I whisper in my daze before slipping off into unconsciousness in the arms of the man I love.

Before, he was very protective of me; now he’ll be even more so, keeping me in his sights at all times. But I don’t mind anymore. I want to be with him all the time. I can’t live without him.

He’s my light, my protector, my savior. He saved me from Nemesis. Just the thought of losing him, leaving him, hurting him, got me out of there and back to him.

And I know that with him by my side, we’ll get our happily ever after.